Appels tijdens de zwangerschap tegen astma bij kind.*
Kinderen van moeders die regelmatig een appel eten tijdens de zwangerschap bleken duidelijk minder kans te hebben op het krijgen van astma en een slechte (piepende) ademhaling. Deze Nederlands-Schotse studie werd uitgevoerd onder 2000 zwangere vrouwen. Allereerst werden alle voedingsgewoontes van de vrouwen geregistreerd en nadien werd bij de kinderen op vijfjarige leeftijd de ademhalingsorganen getest. In deze studie blijkt dat van de voeding alleen appels deze voordelen gaven. Wel vond men ook dat het eten van vis tijdens de zwangerschap de kans op eczeem bij de kinderen deed dalen.
Apple
Consumption During Pregnancy Reduces Risk For Childhood Wheezing And Asthma -
Other Healthy Foods Not Linked With Same Protection
Eating apples while pregnant may give new
meaning to an apple a day keeping the doctor away. Compelling new research has
concluded that mothers who eat apples during pregnancy may protect their
children from developing asthma later in life. The study was published in Thorax
online.
This unique longitudinal study tracked dietary
intake by nearly 2000 pregnant women, then examined the effects of the maternal
diet on airway development in more than 1200 of their children five years later.
Among a wide variety of foods consumed and recorded by the pregnant women, the
researchers concluded that the children of mothers who ate apples had a
significantly reduced risk for the development of asthma and childhood wheezing.
This study focuses on medical evaluations for
asthma and related symptoms (i.e., wheezing) when the children were five years
old. As a result of the evaluations cited in this research, other than apples,
there were no consistent associations found between prenatal consumption of a
range of healthful foods and asthma in the 1253 children who were evaluated.
Children of mothers who ate apples during
pregnancy were much less likely to exhibit symptoms of asthma (including
wheezing), say the researchers who hail from institutions in The Netherlands and
Scotland. These same researchers previously reported positive associations
between maternal consumption of vitamins A, E, D and zinc with reduced risk of
asthma, wheeze and eczema in children.
The only other positive association found
between prenatal food intake and risk reduction in the children was with fish,
for which the researchers found that children of mothers who ate fish had a
lowered incidence of doctor-confirmed eczema.
According to the research, "The present
study suggests beneficial associations between maternal apple intake during
pregnancy and wheeze and asthma at age five years." They add that their
findings "suggest an apple specific effect, possibly because of its
phytochemical content, such as flavonoids." The research paper cites other
related studies on apples, including those which found that "intake of
apples as a significant source of flavonoids and other polyphenols has been
beneficially associated with asthma, bronchial hypersensitivity, and lung
function in adults."
In 2004, the National Center for Health
Statistics reported that nine million U.S. children have been diagnosed with
asthma at one point in their lives and four million children suffered from
asthma attacks that year. Others suffer from "hidden asthma" -
undetected or undiagnosed asthma, according the American Lung Association. The
cost of this disease is great - statistics show asthma to be the third-ranking
cause of hospitalization among children under 15 and is among the leading causes
of school absenteeism.
Maternal food consumption during pregnancy and
asthma, respiratory and atopic symptoms in 5-year-old children.
Willers et al. Thorax Published doi:10.1136/thx.2006.074187 (Mei 2007) (Opm. Meer over appels.)